How to clean the tray in the washing machine: recommendations and personal experience

The irreplaceable assistant of modern housewives is a washing machine. It greatly facilitates our life, but sometimes it itself requires special care. Like any household appliances, the washing machine must be kept clean, otherwise the device will not be able to work at full strength or will stop working at all. One of the unpleasant surprises that we encounter during the operation of the washing machine is the contamination of the powder compartments and the air conditioner. How and how they can be cleaned, we will consider in this article.

Why does dirt appear in the compartments of the machine?

The washing machine constantly interacts with water, but this does not save its elements from some troubles:

• due to constant dampness, mold may appear in the machine;
• from hard water, limescale deposits on the surfaces of the washing machine;
• in “pockets” for detergents, particles of powder or conditioner are retained.

All these impurities negatively affect the wash: things do not rinse, get a musty smell. Dirt and mold from the tray fall into the drum, which means they affect the operation of the whole mechanism as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to clean these departments in a timely manner and to prevent the reappearance of dirt.

How to clean?

There are several ways to clean the powder compartment. A storefront or folk remedy is your choice.

Household chemicals

To choose the right tool and not harm the car, you need to remember that the compartments in it are plastic. For plastic surfaces you can try:

• Special descaling agents in washing machines and dishwashers: Anti-scale, Chistin, Aonit, WPRO and others. As a rule, they are available in powder form, which is used to remove scale from the heating elements of the machine. In our case, to remove plaque, you can make a paste from the product and smear it with dirt in the tray, and then start the machine at idle along with the product, as indicated in the instructions.
  

  Scale powders have a wide range of applications.

• Tools for kitchen surfaces: Pemos, Cif, Comet, Mr. Muscule, Silit and the like. If the dirt is small, it will be enough to apply the product on a sponge and wipe the pocket. If necessary, leave the applied product for a while, and then rinse off.
  

  Surely in your kitchen there is a suitable tool

• Toilet Sanitizers: Domestos, White. They are used in especially advanced cases. 100% will cope with mold. Dissolve the product in water (50 ml per 5 l of water) and soak the tray for 1-2 hours, rinse and return to the washing machine.

On a note! Plastic can not be cleaned with products that contain acids or alkalis - they corrode the material.

Folk recipes

If household chemicals are not at hand, or its use is unacceptable for you, you can use folk remedies:

• Soda is a universal cleaning agent.With small dirt pockets it will be enough to prepare a soda solution (soda and water in a ratio of 1: 1), moisten a rag in it and wipe dirty areas. Soda is especially good at fighting mold. If you need to “defeat” old spots, make a paste of soda and apply it to the entire surface of the tray. Wipe after 30–40 minutes.
  

  Soda is often used as a cleaning powder.

• Citric acid is a traditional folk remedy for scale. To clean the powder tray and conditioner, citric acid is poured into the compartment and the empty machine is turned on. The temperature regime during this procedure should be from 60 degrees. Along with the tray, other elements of the machine will also be cleaned of scale.
  

  Citric acid crystals help get rid of scale

• Vinegar does a good job with limescale. For processing the tray we use 9% table vinegar. We dilute a glass of acetic acid in 1 liter of hot water and soak the tray in this solution for 6–8 hours. After the procedure, wipe with a kitchen sponge and rinse thoroughly. True, in order to soak the entire powder tray, you will have to prepare more than one liter of solution.
  

  Acetic acid corrodes calcareous deposits

Good to know

If you are faced with the problem of cleaning the pockets of a washing machine-machine, these tips may come in handy:

• If the dirt on the compartments is small, you can remove them without removing them from the machine.
• To reach the tray, pull it all the way out and push the button or clip located in the air conditioning compartment.
• Hard to reach places are conveniently cleaned with an old toothbrush.
• Wear household gloves or vinegar.
• Carefully read the composition of the chemical product before using it: the product can be dangerous for plastic. Sometimes the main component of descaler is citric acid, which you can simply take from the kitchen shelf and not overpay.
• If you take out the tray, be sure to also clean the surfaces of the machine with which it is in contact.
• Wipe the tray dry after each wash cycle.
• Have a “spring cleaning” for the washing machine at least once a month.

Personal experience

I myself got a washing machine in a very unsightly form. I cleaned the tray by various means, and this is what I got.

Everything was in the tray: plaque, mold, powder

Initially, I tried applying Cif cream with microbeads and a whitening effect. I successfully use cream in the kitchen. Plus this remedy in its creamy consistency. It is convenient to apply, it does not spread and does not flow out of the tray. He also has a pleasant smell. I left the product for 15-20 minutes, and then wiped it off with a brush. The effect, of course, was, but insignificant. Most likely, this cream will cope with fresh spots. In advanced cases it will not help.

Then I tried Faberlic for caustic soda ovens and stoves. Its advantage is also the consistency. The product is available in the form of a thick, colorless gel. The smell is unpleasant, but weak - tolerant. After 15 minutes of soaking, a slight improvement appeared. So, it still works a little better than Cif cream.

It looked like a tray after processing household chemicals

Then I turned to folk remedies. The first thing I used was soda. With a soda gruel, I wiped all surfaces with a toothbrush. Minus - that soda "earned", it was necessary to rub with all his might.

Tray after soda treatment

Finally, I soaked my tray in a solution of 9% vinegar overnight. It is inconvenient to soak - the tray is large. I had to adapt it so that vinegar did not spill out of the pockets. The next morning, the calcareous coating did not disappear, but the tray noticeably turned white.

Vinegar did not cope with the plaque, but significantly refreshed the tray

From my experiment, we can make an unambiguous conclusion: all means are good if applied on time.

Video: how to clean the washer tray

So, there are many ways to clean the tray of the washing machine. But it is important to remember that cleaning should occur regularly, otherwise even a super-effective product will not cope with the task.